1. Technical Field
The invention relates to vehicle suspension systems, and in particular, to a combination air spring and damper in which the mounting forces are decoupled from each other on one of the vehicle components to reduce excessive loads on the attachment locations.
2. Background Information
Numerous suspension systems have been developed which utilize a combination damper and air spring wherein the damper cylinder is mounted to one vehicle component such as the wheel suspension system, with the piston rod of the damper and air spring end plate being attached to another vehicle component such as the chassis. However, in these prior suspension systems, the air spring, and in particular the end plate thereof and the piston rod of the damper are attached at a common point. Although such attachments perform satisfactory in many applications, it does exert an excessive force on a common attachment location which absorbs both the forces exerted on the air spring as well as the damper.